Sponsor An Event

We have
reached the anniversary of the very first divorce centres. Those in the North
East opened in November 2014.

The
Bury St Edmunds Divorce Centre is launching an 'on demand' information bulletin
on
16 November. The bulletin will show the work position at
the Divorce Centre and provide general information to assist
practitioners. This will enable
solicitors and others to assess when work sent to the Divorce Centre will be
processed and reduce the need to telephone or write for progress updates,
saving time and providing information to keep clients informed.

Work
information will be updated daily at 12 noon. The other information will be
regularly reviewed and updated periodically to ensure that it is up to date and
reflects current experience. An example
of the information the bulletin will contain is available to download below, the first issue will
be broadly similar to this.

The
information can be accessed by sending an email to the mailbox
burystedmundsinformation@hmcts.gsi.gov.uk. On receipt the bulletin will automatically be
sent in response.

Family
law solicitor and arbitrator, Tony Roe, who made a series of FoI requests of
the MoJ, and whose research broke the news that Bury St Edmunds (BSE) would be
the single divorce centre for the London & the South East, has been
speaking to HMCTS again.

Roe
said, 'HMCTS envisage that this will be very much an evolving tool and future
content will be informed by experience and feedback. If there is demand HMCTS may introduce
similar facilities elsewhere, I understand.'

Roe also said, 'I happen to know that the Court
Service is keeping a watching brief on social media which has apparently informed
them where they need to take corrective action. They regard the comments
as generally mixed but say that are helpful in providing an overview of
practitioner experience.'